My Genealogy Hound

Oliver P. Bond, farmer and stock-raiser, Nelson, Ark. A gallant soldier for a number of years in the Confederate service during the late war, and a man whose life has been an active one, Mr. Bond is now occupied in the cultivation of his farm of eighty acres, and is also engaged in the blacksmith trade. He was born in Georgia July 21, 1843, and is the son of William P. and Eliza E. (Amos) Bond, natives of South Carolina and Georgia, respectively. The father was born in 1808, was a successful agriculturist, and came to Drew County, Ark., in 1857. At the breaking out of the war he enlisted in the Third Arkansas Cavalry in July, 1861, was commissioned second lieutenant, and served until 1862, when he returned home and again engaged in farming. He died in 1880. He was the son of William and (Brown) Bond, and the grandson of William Bond, who was born in England, but of Irish descent, and who came to the United States a short time previous to the Revolutionary War, in which he participated, and located in South Carolina. The mother of our subject died in 1889. Oliver P. Bond was the second eldest of seven children born to his parents, five of whom are living: Oliver P., Edward R. (farmer of Saline Township, and the owner of about 360 acres of land), Carrie (now Mrs. Stephenson of this township), Thomas (in the railroad business in Utah), and Dr. R. R. (of this township). Oliver P. Bond was educated in the academy at Woodbury, Ga., and was but fifteen years of age when his father moved to this county. He commenced farming in 1867, but previous to this, in May, 1861, he enlisted in the First Arkansas Infantry, and served in that regiment until the close of the war. He participated in the battles of Shiloh, Farmington, Mumfordsville, Perryville, Murfreesboro, and was there wounded and captured by Union troops. He was conveyed to Camp Morton, Ind., where he was retained until August, 1864, when he, in company with seven others, disarmed the guards and succeeded in making their escape. He did not escape from that State, however, and so engaged in the harness and hardware business in Martinsville, Ind., where he remained until 1866. He then returned home, and. as above stated, engaged in cultivating the soil. This he still continued in connection with the blacksmith trade, which he had learned previous to the war, and in 1880 moved to his present farm. He was married in 1866 to Miss Helen I. Ragland, a native of Georgia, born in 1841 and the daughter of John S. Ragland. To Mr. and Mrs. Bond have been born four children: Reola, Mary J., Carrie, and William E. Mr. Bond is a member of the County Wheel, and he was also president of the County Club.